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Stamps of The Interim Period
Return to Title Page Development and Defense Series This series of five stamps have as their central theme the development of the Galilee. With the Haifa Seaport as its gateway, the area known as the Hula Valley remained an unattended, malarial infested wasteland. The Hula Lake and its wetlands are fed from the Dan, Hazbani and Banias Rivers to form the Jordan River and have a continuous anthropological record dating to the Paleolithic period. In antiquity its import as a trade route linking the Mesopotamian kingdoms to Egypt led to the Bronze Age cities of Hazor and Layish. In Biblical times these were supplanted by the Israelite city of Dan in the 13th century BCE, which later fell to the Assyrians with the conquest of the Northern Tribes by the armies of Tiglath Pileser III. Throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and early Arab periods rural habitation was continuous until the Mameluk invasion at the end of the 13th century. Thereafter, there were no permanent settlements in the valley, though Bedouin shepherds remained. In the late 19th century, its impenetrability led it to be safe haven for the Ghawarna (Arab refugees and run-away slaves). In the 1930's, the Yishuv looked to the Hula with promise. Here had once been a fertile land, which lay patiently in wait for her children’s return. With the growth of the Yishuv, the Arabs rose in rebellion demanding the end of Jewish immigration. Although the British did not bar entree, neither did they offer protection from the marauding Arabs who typically attacked at night. The safety of the pioneering settlers was answered with the advent of Tower and Stockade settlements. In no more than a day, a bare patch of ground was converted into a secure encampment surrounded by wooden stockade, with a searchlight atop a high, central watchtower. Tel Amal was the first of these, established on December 10, 1936, and by the end of 1939, 55 such settlements were constructed, playing a decisive role in the difficult economic, political, and military struggles that were to follow. The continuous vigilance, endless manual labor and wrenching isolation were all for naught when the U.N. partition in November 1947 gave the entirety of the Western Galilee to the Arab partition. Ben-Gurion himself had decided to make the purchase for Hanita: 5000 dunam of hilly non-arable land. An advance group erected a base camp on a hill one kilometer from the road. On the morning of March 21, 1938, 500 people arrived in fifty trucks and broke a trail, carrying on their backs all that had been made ready to construct Hanita. That night 100 men remained to fend off the first of the Arab attacks that would ultimately cost the lives of ten men until the road work was completed reaching the stone house of the Hanita settlement. Kibbutz Tirat Zvi was established on June 30, 1937 with its purchase from the Palestinian leader Musa El Alami by the Jewish National fund. Farm buildings of mud and straw bricks with a surrounding stockade wall and a two story central building, “HaTirah” (the castle) atop which a searchlight was set. Located just west of the Jordan River, it was settled by immigrants from Poland, Romania and Germany. The Kibbutz was named in memory of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, a founder of the Zionist Movement. In the first decade of the kibbutz there was ceaseless struggle for existence against extremely difficult climactic conditions, swamps, malaria, tense security situations, and enemy assaults. The first was a well-organized Arab attack on February 28, 1938 with heavy casualties on both sides. On February 16th, 1948 prior to the end of the Mandate, Muhammed Safa led a battalion of the Iraqi Arab Liberation Army against one hundred primitively armed settlers defending the small kibbutz. The attack was repulsed at a cost of one defender to 60 Arabs soldiers. Jewish communities in Palestine saw this battle as a great victory, and morale increased significantly The series was designed by Otto Wallish of Tel Aviv and was initially released in 1940 by the Jewish National Fund and later reprinted in 1946. The series consists of 5 differing stamps, all printed with a perforation rate of 10 in sheets of 10 stamps (two rows of five). Of the five stamps, only the 1 mil “Hanita” stamp was never officially used as postage. Other values depicted the kibbutz, Tirat Zvi (3 mils), a tractor (likely an Allis Chalmers) plowing a field (5 mils), the harbor of Haifa (10 mils) and Surveyors of the Hula Valley (50 mils). hanita.jpg|Hanita (never used for postage) tiriat.jpg|Tirat Tzvi tractor.jpg haifa.jpg|The port of Haifa survey.jpg|Surveyors of the Hula Valley Of note, both the 3 and 5 mils stamp were overprinted both at Tel Aviv and Haifa while the 10 mils stamp was only from Haifa and the 50 only from Tel Aviv. Only the 3 and 50 mils version are known to exist with the less common red overprint of Tel Aviv. She'ar Yishuv: Immigrant Ship In the years following World War II, Jewish immigration to Palestine was limited to only 18,000 per year. Clawing its w ay out of the Holocaust, European Jewry turned to clandestine immigration. The Aliyah Bet comprised sixty-six illegal sailings of nearly 80,000 survivors, of which only a few managed to penetrate the British blockade. These vessels of hope ran the gamut from large transports like the American Pan Crescent (Atzma’ut) and Pan York (Kibbutz Galuyot), to rickety landing crafts such as the Af-Al-Pi Chen. Some, like those aboard the Parita were fortunate. As the ship beached, T el Aviv residents milled among the passengers and whisked them away to safety. Others were less fortunate, as with the She’ar Yishuv depicted on this stamp. Christened originally the Galata, she was renamed She’ar Yishuv ''(''The Remnant Shall Return, Isaiah 10:21), and set sail from Genoa, Italy on April 7, 1947 with 620 refugees and in the Peloponnesian Seas took on 151 more from aboard the Albertina out of Greece. Listing badly, just two weeks out of port on April 23, the British destroyer HMS Cheviot boarded the ship at sea. The refugees aboard were interred in a Cyprus Detention Camp. The She’ar Yishuv is pictured run aground and was released as a 10 ½ perforation stamp, and was available in sheets of 20 (4 X 5) with any of the three overprints. Some overprinted in Haifa came in sheets of ten. Herzl Theodore Herzl, (1860 – 1904) being the father of Zionism, figures prominently in Jewish philatelism. By training he was a lawyer, but he gravitated to journalism and became the foreign correspondent in Paris for the prestigious Viennese newspaper – Neue Freie Presse (New Free Press). While covering the 1894 trial of Captain Dreyfus for treason in France, Herzl realized a very real anti-Semitism within “Enlightened” Europe. This crystallized the realization for Herzl of the imminent need for a Jewish Homeland in Eretz Yisrael, no longer for the historical religious reasons, but instead as a pressing issue of nationalist survival. In February 1896, he published his essay, “The Jewish State,” in which he offered the establishment of the Jewish State as the solution to the Jewish People’s distress throughout the world. The following year he assembled in Basel the first World Zionist Congress with its platform: “Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish People in Palestine Eretz-Israel, secured under public law.” Herzl would later refer to this Congress, saying, “In Basel I founded the Jewish State!” In 1902 he would pen the famous Zionist motto, “If you will it, it is no fairy tale.” The Interim stamp was designed by Heinrich Deiters and is based on a photo by EM Lilien of Herzl overlooking the Rhine from the balcony of the Trois Rois Hotel during the Congress at Basel, Switzerland. The original background of the Rhine in the photograph became the Tower of David in Jerusalem with Jewish pioneers allegorically making Aliyah. It was first released in a differing form in 1909 to honor the fifth anniversary of his death. Subsequent releases in 1918, 1936 and 1938 gradually morphed into the 1941 release printed by the Goldberg Press of Jerusalem, which ultimately was used for interim postage. It was printed with a perforation rate of 10½ in 16 stamp sheets with the two middle 4 stamp rows in tete-beche arrangement. This release came as 2, 5 and 10 mils variants. While the 5 mils was available only with a Haifa overprint and the green 2 mils as only Tel Aviv (both violet and red), the violet 10 mils stamps were available with all three overprints. A later 1946 release to celebrate the jubilee year of Herzl’s essay, “The Jewish State” (Kaplov 818-819) was also used as Interim postage. This stamp in blue valued at 10 mils was overprinted in two formats (“50 years for ‘The Jewish State’” and “1946, Jubilee of ‘The Jewish State’”). The DOAR overprint was only of the Tel Aviv type. Both the original photo as well as the transfigured image became iconic, and both images have been featured in later Israeli postage. h2.jpg h5.jpg h10.jpg Eliezer Ben Yehudah Originally released by the Jewish National Fund in 1942, the stamp was originally printed in blue, brown, green and rust and was without value. The stamp honored Ben Yehuda on the 20th anniversary of his death and was printed by the Goldberg Press of Jerusalem. Born Eliezer Perlman in Luzhky, Lithuania (1857 – 1922), Ben Yehuda came to Paris to study at the Sorbonne in 1878. The following year, he began to publish articles advocating Jewish settlement in Palestine. He made Aliyah in 1881, settling in Jerusalem where he championed Hebrew as a spoken language by amongst other things, refusing to speak in any other language. Ten years later his wife, Devorah died of tuberculosis, and within 2 weeks three of his five children would follow her. He would that same year marry his sister-in-law, Paula Beila, who would take the name Hemda. Ben-Yehuda published an extensive Modern Hebrew dictionary (only the aleph through mem editions were published in his lifetime) and founded the Va'ad HaLashon HaIvrit, or the Hebrew Language Council, which figured prominently in the modernization of the language. This would later become the Hebrew Language Academy, the supreme arbiter and authority on all matters pertaining to the Hebrew language. Ben Yehuda would serve as editor for several papers. Among them was the weekly, HaZvi (later renamed HaOr), which reported secular news in Hebrew from 1884 to 1914 when the Ottoman Government because of its distinctly Zionist bent banned it. In 1912 he founded the first Hebrew Daily in Palestine, the Doar HaYom. At age 64, Ben Yehuda succumbed to tuberculosis and was interred at Mt Olives. The British historian, Cecil Roth, would later say, “Before Ben‑Yehuda... Jews could speak Hebrew; after him, they did.” The stamps bore perforation rates of 10½ and was printed in sheets of 24 (three rows of eight) printed in blue (2 mils - violet and red Tel Aviv overprints) and sepia (5 mils - violet Tel Aviv and Haifa overprints). Chaiim Weizmann Chaim Weizmann (1874 – 1952), the first President of Israel, was born in the small village of Motol near Pinsk. He graduated from Switzerland’s University of Fribourg in 1899 and lectured in Chemistry at the University of Geneva until 1904 when he was appointed lecturer in biological chemistry at Manchester University. There, he would become the director of the British Admiral Laboratories from 1916 to 1919 when he pioneered bacterial fermentation for manufacturing of chemicals, among them the synthesis of acetone using Clostridium acetobutylicum. This was of immense import for the British war effort, as it was up to then the rate-limiting step in the manufacturing of explosives. Weizmann met Lord Arthur Balfour during an election campaign for the Conservative MP with a seat in Manchester who would later become Prime Minister. Weizmann’s influence from both a professional and personal level helped the British government to become sympathetic to proposals for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and ultimately resulted in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917. Despite the diplomatic success, Weizmann however argued for grass-root efforts, “Even if all the governments of the world gave us a country, it would only be a gift of words.” The World Zionist Organization elected him president in 1920 and later in 1929 chairman of the Jewish Agency. During World War II he again made important contributions to the war effort, including the production of synthetic rubber. He became an impassioned spokesman before both the British and International Commissions of Inquiry for Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s. He lobbied strongly for the funding of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writing, “It seems paradoxical that in a land with so sparse a population, in a land where everything still remains to be done ... we should begin by creating a centre of spiritual and intellectual development. But it is no paradox for those who know the soul of the Jew.” In 1921 Weizmann would tour with Albert Einstein to raise funds for the University (as depicted here). In 1934 as its President, he established the Daniel Sieff Research Institute in Rehovot, which would later become the world-famous Weizmann Institute of Science. The stamps honoring him on his 70th birthday bore an 11½ perforation and were printed in 1944 in sheets of 64 with undecorated gutters between the second and third, fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh rows of eight. Initial offerings without value were available in reddish brown, violet, green and greenish blue, but the 2 formats used were available only in blue and green. Whereas the blue 10 mils stamp came with all three of the overprints, it is uncertain if the 5mils green variety was available with the red Tel Aviv overprint. Of note the 10 mils version of this stamp is widely considered the most common of all interim stamps. Technion at Haifa The Technion of Haifa was Israel’s first institute of higher education. The Jewish National Fund acquired the site in an undeveloped section of Haifa during the period of the Ottoman Empire. The Russian tea merchant, K Wissotsky, and the New York banker-philanthropist, Jacob Schiff, funded construction of the design by Alexander Baerwald. The foundation stone was laid in April 1912, but World War 1 delayed further construction. Later a contentious debate as to the language of instruction delayed opening of the school until 1924. Ultimately, Hebrew was chosen over German, which was at the time the international Language of Science. The first undergraduate class consisted of 26 students in two areas of instruction - Civil Engineering and Architecture. Led by Shlomo Kaplansky from 1931 to 1950, the institute’s goal was to train engineers to the highest of European standards. In the 1930s, the Institute absorbed large numbers of Jewish students and distinguished scholars from Poland, Germany and Austria, who were fleeing the Nazi regime. By the late 1930s enrollment exceeded 400 students, and the University had expanded to include eleven laboratories and added degrees in industrial engineering and a nautical school. The interim stamp released in 1945 with an 11 ½ perforation rate depicts the main building with only the blue and green varieties chosen for use, although the initial Jewish National Fund printing by Haoman Press of Jerusalem was made in brown, violet and greenish blue. It was available in sheets of 32 (eight rows of four) and although the 5 and 50 mils stamps were only overprinted in Haifa, the 10 mils stamp exists in each of the three overprints. Jewish Brigade Early in World War II the Yishuv argued for a Jewish Regiment within the British Army. However staunch Arab opposition to the proposed Jewish homeland had earlier resulted in the riots of 1936 - 1939. Chamberlain’s government was ill disposed to stir the seething unrest by establishing a separate fighting unit of Jewish volunteers and teach them aspects of modern warfare. Nevertheless, 30,000 men and women volunteered and joined the British army, navy and air force and served in a variety of units on varying fronts. The strategic needs of the African campaign induced the British in 1940 to permit the formation of Palestinian Jewish infantry battalions within the East Kent Regiment (the “Buffs”); however, they continued to be engaged primarily in guard and transport duties rather than as combatants. It was not until September 1944, after six years of prolonged negotiations, that the British government agreed to the establishment of a Jewish Brigade marching under the flag of the Yishuv; the Star of David. The Brigade included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine organized into three infantry battalions and several supporting units, under the command of Brigadier Ernest Benjamin, a Canadian Jew. The Brigade fought against the Germans in Italy from March 1945 until the end of the war when the Jewish Brigade stood at the Austro-Yugoslav border. After the German surrender, members of the Jewish Brigade helped create displaced persons camps for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and became involved in organizing the flight of Jewish refugees into Palestine. Britain disbanded the Jewish Brigade in the summer of 1946. This stamp with a perforation rate of 10 ½ was released in 1945 in sheets of 4 rows of 5. The release honors the volunteers with the various service patches set against the background of the flag of the Yishuv. In the lower right is the insignia of the Jewish Brigade. The stamp was available with both the violet and red Tel Aviv as well as the Haifa overprint. Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley is home to some of the most fertile farmland in Israel and is the agricultural heartland of the country. The area is often referred to simply as “Ha’emek” (The Valley). Its name is derived from the biblical city of Yizre’el that served as a wintering palace under the reign of Omri and was ultimately destroyed by Tiglath-Pileser III, in 732 BCE. In biblical times the primary cities of the valley were Megiddo, Yizre’el and Beit Shean. Aside from the ill fated battle between Saul and the Philistines, the area is also known for the vineyard incident involving Naboth the Jezreelite and King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. It was here too, at the foothills of the Gilboa, that Gideon chose the warriors that would defeat the Midianites. Aside from its agricultural significance the Jezreel Valley was an important thoroughfare even in ancient times and was later known by the Romans as the Via Maris, the ancient route from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Unfortunately the area had become a neglected collection of swamps until the Jewish settlers reclaimed the land. The Emek's purchase had been under negotiations since 1891 and were finalized in 1920 by none other than the “Redeemer of the Valley,” Yehoshua Hankin. In 1946, the Jewish National Fund commemorated the 25th year anniversary of the acquisition of the valley with a 10 ½ perforated, 24 per sheet stamp in 6 rows of 4 divided in half by a plain gutter. Only the 10 mils came in other than a Haifa overprint, with a violet Tel Aviv Doar. Interestingly, both the brown 5 mils and blue 10 mils stamp have been found with the value omitted. Yehoshua Hankin Born in Kremenchug, Ukraine, Yehoshua Hankin (1864-1945) along with his father was among the founders of Rishon LeZion in 1882. Eight years later he made his first of many land purchases, in what would become Rehovot, Hadera and the Galilee area. In 1908, along with Arthur Rupin from the World Zionist Organization, Hankin would establish the Palestine Land Development Corporation. Their first major acquisition was 10,000 dunams (1,000 dunams is the equivalent of a square kilometer) of land in the Jezreel Valley in Al-Fuleh (now Affula), which would become the towns of Merhavia and Tel Adashim. In 1915, the Ottomans exiled him to Anatolia for the duration of World War I. On occasion, Hankin would agree to a purchase and only after convince the Jewish agencies to finance the fait accompli. An example was the major purchase in 1920 from the Sursuk family of Beirut of 60,000 dunams in the Jezreel Valley, when in fact there were no arrangements made to finance the purchase. Nehemiah De Lieme, chair of Karen Kayemet LeYisrael at the time, refused to pay for the land, arguing that it was both beyond the budget of the Fund and involved non-arable lands. Chaim Weizman would argue strongly in favor of the purchase and this tract would later become home to the settlements of Nahalal, Djindjar, Kfar Yehezkel Geva, Geva, Ein Harod, Tel Yosef and Beit Alfa. In 1920, he concluded a major purchase in the Jezreel Valley and earned the honorific of the “Redeemer of the Valley.” In 1927, Hankin presented a daring 20-year plan for the acquisition of land. He became director of the Palestine Land Development Corporation in 1932, and during his lifetime, was responsible for the purchase of more than 600,000 dunams of land (150,000 acres). This interim stamp overprinted only in Haifa honors his vital role in the reclamation of Israel. It was printed by Haoman Press of Jerusalem to honor his 80th and last birthday and although available without value in blue, green, brown and dark brown, only the valued brown format was used for postage. With a perforation rate of 11 ½, this stamp was printed in a 32-stamp sheet of eight rows of four with a middle gutter row. The Jewish Sportsman This stamp was offered in 1945 to commemorate the 1944 Dan to Jerusalem Relay Run. Long time General Director of Karen Kayemet, Menachem Usishkin had died in 1941. In his memory the organization termed its 1944 Jerusalem convention, Kinus Usishkin. Emil Weitz, Director of the Amateur Athletic Association of Palestine, suggested a fitting tribute would be a cross-country relay race “Mi Mecudat Usishkin L’Kinus Usishkin” (from the northernmost settlement of Kibbutz Dan - Fortress Usishkin - to the convention being held in Jerusalem). With only ten days to organize the event, the race began on September 29 at 3:00 in the morning, when Emil Weitz handed the baton to Eliezer Kroll, one of the original Shomerim, who rode on to Daphne by horseback. In all 500 runners, 16 horsemen, 8 swimmers and 10 motorcyclists traversed 363 kilometers in 13.5 hours to arrive at the Jerusalem convention at 4:30pm. At that time, the last runner presented the baton back to the waiting Emil Weitz who presented it to the Chair and General Director of Karen Kayemet, Dr Granowsky. In the center of the stamp is a medallion commemorating the run, bearing the inscription “Chazak Venit Chazak” (Be strong and be strengthened). Although initially printed in varied values, (1 blue, 5 brown and 10 green), only the green issue was known to have been put into service. With a perforation rate of 10, the stamp came as a 16-stamp sheet (eight rows of two) that was overprinted only in Haifa. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising On Passover eve, April 19, 1943, the Nazis executed the final phase of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto. Das Aktion was planned to take only three days, but had not counted on the fierce resistance offered by the starving remnant of the Warsaw Jews. The armed underground consisted mostly of two main groups: the ZOB (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa or Jewish Fighting Organization) and the ZZW (Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy or Jewish Military Union). Led by Mordechai Anielewicz, the ZOB consisted of no more than 800 fighters while the smaller ZZW amounted to nearly 400 and was led by David Appelbaum and Pawel Frenkel. Despite pleas to the Polish underground, there was no help forthcoming. General Juergen Stroop attacked with an initial force of around 5,000 heavily armed troops supported with tanks, artillery and air support. It took four weeks to crush the uprising. On May 16, the ghetto was liquidated and the Germans blew up the Great Synagogue on Tomlacke Street in victory. Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, the eminent historian and one of the organizers of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt, wrote, “For 44 days of the ‘action’ no voice was heard from the ‘Aryan’ side. Complete silence reigned there in face of the drama taking place in full view of hundreds of thousands of Poles...” The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was an empowering moment for Jews throughout the world during the darkest days of the Holocaust. This 1946 stamp commemorates the ill fated, brave resistance with 2 different printings. Ten stamp sheets (five rows of two) were printed on grey paper, while 20 stamp sheets (five rows of four) used a cream colored paper. Both carried a perforation rate of 10 ½ and are found with any of the three overprints. Zionist Organization Jubilee The Zionist Organization was founded by Theodore Herzl at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland on August 29, 1897 with the goal “...to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine, secured under public law.” Initially, Herzl had planned the meeting for Munich, but due to local opposition he transferred the gathering to Basel. At this Congress, the Zionist movement formally organized itself as a worldwide organization. The Zionist Organization performed a critical role when the Mandate for Palestine accorded Great Britain by the League of Nations called for the establishment of a Jewish Agency to represent the Jewish people. The Zionist Organization created the Jewish Agency, which became the de facto government for the Yishuv, actively developing an economic and cultural infrastructure for the nascent State, struggling for survival. This stamp with perforation rate of 11 ½ commemorated the organization on its 50th anniversary in 1947 and was available in 25 stamp sheets (five rows of five) in both a 5 mils brown/green version with a violet Tel Aviv overprint and in a 50 mils blue version over stamped in Haifa. Variants not used for postage included the non-valued green, teal, blue, dark green and brown, as well as the 5 mils brown and 50 mils green versions. Ramat Gan The Municipality of Ramat Gan (or in English, Garden Heights) is situated on the Plain of Sharon in the center of Gush-Dan (the biblical home of the tribe of Dan) near the Yarqon River, and was established in 1921 under the name, Ir Ganim (City of Gardens). The settlement was initially a moshav agricultural settlement whose main produce were wheat, barley and watermelons. In 1923, the settlement adopted the name Ramat Gan and continued to operate as a moshav until 1933, at which time it had grown to 450 residents. Gradually the economy of the city evolved into an urban and commercial center and would later become the home of the Israeli Diamond Exchange. By Statehood in 1948, the population of this satellite community abutting the eastern border of Tel Aviv had grown to 17,200. The small community early on became a focal point in the Yishuv’s language war. Eastern Jewry had favored Yiddish as the national language and a Yiddish language paper had made a name for itself in the small community. Extremists, who favored Hebrew as the national language, sabotaged and blew up the press. Under the leadership of Abraham Krinitzi, the agricultural settlement made a gradual evolution towards commerce and industry while at the same time preserving its Garden heritage. Krinitzi served as Ramt Gan’s first mayor for very near 43 years. Depicted on this 1947 stamp overprinted only with the violet Tel Aviv overprint is the original coat of arms of the city at that time with the Hebrew dates 5682 – 5707 at the top. Against a green background symbolic of the city gardens lays a resplendent shield containing a factory symbolic of the hoped for industrialization the city leaders were attempting to attract. In the foreground is a native flower representing not only the agrarian past, but also the floral gardens of the city. The stamp had a perforation rate of 11 ½ and was issued in 32 stamp sheets (eight rows of four). Bialik and Herzl Hayyim Nachman Bialik (1873 - 1934) was born in Radi, Volhynia in Russia. At the age of 17, he went to the Talmudic Academy in Volozhin, Lithuania where he was attracted to the Enlightenment movement and gradually drifted away from yeshiva life. Bialik left for Odessa at age 18, where he became active in Jewish literary circles and first met Ahad Ha’am, who had a great influence on his Zionist outlook. In 1901 his first collection of poetry appeared and was greeted with acclaim. He moved to Berlin in 1921, where he founded the D’vir Publishing House, which he then moved to Tel Aviv in 1924. Bialik devoted himself to cultural activities and public affairs and was immediately recognized as a celebrated literary figure. In 1927 he became head of the Hebrew Writers Union and has been called the “National Poet,” defining early Israeli literary art. Bialik is coupled with Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, for this 1945 issue, which was often affixed on school diplomas serving as a voluntary tax stamp. They are portrayed as the “heart and mind” of the new Homeland. Underneath the pair is the banner L’Torah Ul’Toodah (For High Achievment). The stamp with a perforation rate of 10 ½ was issued in 10 stamp sheets (two rows of five) by Hapoel Hazair of Tel Aviv. Both the violet Tel Aviv and Haifa overprints were used on the 50 mils stamp while only the violet Tel Aviv is found on the 100 mils version. Partition Map The British Mandate was soon to expire and yet still there were no solutions to extricate the British. Faced with increasing violence and unrest in Palestine, a Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord Robert Peel, was charged in 1937, with finding an acceptable solution for the resolution of the Mandate. Their conclusion suggested the division of the Mandate into 2 separate and independent states, one Arab, and the other Jewish with boundaries determined by demographics. This would grant a relatively small area to the Yishuv, relegated to the Galilee and the coastal plains. The Arab leadership refused to even consider the proposal and the British turned to a restriction on Aliya in the hopes of mollifying the Arabs. This unfortunate policy outlined in the White Paper of 1939, couldn’t have come at a worse time, given the horrors of the Holocaust. Faced with growing unrest following World War II, and in the face of increasingly hostile world opinion, Great Britain turned to the United Nations, which established a Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP), composed of delegates from eleven nations. Three nations (India, Iran and Yugoslavia) recommended a unified state with Arab and Jewish provinces while Australia abstained. The majority opinion (Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay) recommended establishment of two separate states, Jewish and Arab, leaving Jerusalem an internationalized enclave. On November 29, 1947, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 was approved with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one abstention. The State of Israel was a reality! To honor the passage of United Nations Resolution 181 the Jewish National Fund commissioned the release of a charity label featuring the proposed Partition Plan. Along the upper left corner was added the wording, Medinat LaYehudim (Jewish State). The stamps were printed with (Kaplove 925 -927) and without values (Kaplove 921 – 924) in blue on white paper (5m), brown on yellow or white paper (10m) and blue on blue tinged paper (50m), all carrying an 11 ½ perforation rate and released in 10 stamp sheets (five vertical rows of 2). The completed labels printed in Jerusalem by Haoman Press would also be used for the Jerusalem Locals (see below). Whereas all were overprinted with the violet Tel Aviv stamp, the red stamp was not used on the 50 mils value (blue ink on blue paper) and the Haifa overprint was only used with the 10 mils stamp (Brown ink on yellow paper). Major errors are found in the form of stamps without values. Negev Pipeline The Ottoman Empire and later the British saw the Negev desert in the south as uninhabitable territory whose chief importance was strategic. Little effort was invested in regional development or improving the standard of living of the nomadic Bedouin tribes that inhabited the region. The Yishuv’s recognition that a modern and economically viable agriculture in the Negev hinged on irrigation led to a series of exploratory studies, including meteorological, geological and hydrological surveys. It became clear that the only way of securing a dependable and sufficient supply of fresh water for agrarian needs was to transport it from northern sources via pipes. The first pipeline was completed in 1947 and transported water from wells in the northern Negev, supplying 1 million cubic meters of irrigation annually through 190 kilometers of 6 inch pipes. This pioneering pipeline proved that transportation of water from the north to sustain the arid south was both practical and feasible. These stamps printed early in 1948 in Jerusalem by Haoman Press bore a perforation rate of 11 ½ in 10 stamp sheets (five rows of two). The brown on yellow 5 mils denomination was overprinted with both Tel Aviv stamps and is also found with the figure of the value omitted. The blue 10 mils stamps were also stamped in both Tel Aviv overprints and were available without values. The 50 mils blue on blue stamp was, however, available only with the violet Tel Aviv stamp with or without the value. Parachutists Early in World War II, the Yishuv volunteered to serve and would do so within the ranks of the Allied forces and eventually in its own Jewish Brigade. The British, however, needed volunteers to parachute into Occupied Europe for the purpose of sabotage, espionage and partisan support. Of the hundreds who applied, thirty-two were chosen and were trained by the British Special Operations Executive in Egypt during early 1943. In May 1943 the first, Peretz Rosenberg of Nahalal, parachuted into Yugoslavia, joining Tito’s forces while others followed in the eight missions between 1943-1944. These 1946 stamps memorialize the seven who made the ultimate sacrifice. Printed by HaOman Press of Jerusalem, these stamps came in sheets of 5 columns of 7, and were in black or olive (both Tel Aviv and Haifa overprints) and blue (only in Tel Aviv). Other colors were produced in the JNF printing but were not used as official postage. They are here enumerated as they were printed from top to bottom. Zvi benYaacov (born Heinrich Greenhut in Slovakia, 1922; died 1944) turned to Zionism as a result of anti-Semitism and in 1939 migrated to Palestine. He was of the ill-fated group of four that parachuted to Slovakia (Zvi along with Raphael Reiss, Haviva Reich and Chaim Cher-Maish). Of this group, only Chaim Cher-Maish avoided capture. Once captured, Zvi was summarily executed. Abba Berichev (born in Rumania 1920; died 1944) attempted Aliyah only to be placed in a detention camp. He parachuted into Rumania in September, 1944 where he worked with the British Secret Service and the Jewish underground, but crossing into Hungary, was caught, charged with espionage and executed in Mauthausen Death Camp. Peretz Goldstein (born in Transylvania, 1923; died 1944) was a quiet and reserved man who came to Palestine in 1941, and jumped into Yugoslavia in March 1944. He was later caught in Hungary and died in an unknown concentration camp that same year. Hannah Senesch (born in Budapest, July 17, 1921; executed November 7, 1944) lost her father Béla at age 6, became deeply involved with Maccabea a Hungarian student Zionist organization. After graduating from a private Protestant school for girls in 1939, she migrated to Palestine, briefly studying at the Nahalal Girls’ Agriculture School before joining Kibbutz Sdot Yam. As a member of the Haganah, she became obsessed by the plight of her mother, Katrina, and the Hungarian Jewry she had left behind. On March 13, 1944 she, along with Yoel Palgi and Peretz Goldstein, parachuted into Yugoslavia. Hannah fought with the partisans for three months. On crossing into Hungary she was arrested by Hungarian gendarmes who found her British military transmitter. Imprisoned in Budapest, she was tortured and then brought to trial for treason and espionage on October 28, 1944. She was executed by firing squad on November 7, prior to a verdict being reached. Hannah was also known as a poet and playwright, with her most famous work being, “Eli, Eli.” : "My God, My God, I pray that these things never end, The sand and the sea, The rustle of the waters, Lightning of the Heavens, The prayer of Man. אלי, אלי, שלא יגמר לעולם החול והים רישרוש של המים ברק השמיםתפילת האדם She would later be reinterred in Jerusalem in 1950, and later officially exonerated by a Hungarian Military Court in November 5, 1993. Dr Enzo Sereni '''(born in Rome, April 17, 1905; executed November 18, 1944) as the son of the physiciqan to the then King of Italy, grew up in an assimilated household, but during his teenage years turned to Zionism. After obtaining a doctorate from the University in Rome, he emigrated to Palestine in 1926. After working the citrus groves in Rehovot, he helped found the kibbutz, Givat Brenner. By nature an enthusiastic socialist and pacifist, he strongly advocated for Jewish-Arab coexistence. Between 1931 - 1934, he was sent to Europe to help promote Aliyah and later to America, and when World War broke out, he was among the first to enlist in the British Army, where he first served in Egypt and then Iraq disseminating anti-fascist propaganda. Dr Sereni would help to organize the special parachute unit, later joining the ranks. On 15th May, 1944 he took off, but the pilot became lost and dropped him into the hands of the Germans some 40 kilometers from Florence. He was captured almost immediately and taken to Dachau concentration camp, where he was executed on November 18, 1944. Raphael Reiss (born in Budapest, 1914; died, 1944) moved to Novejamke (part of Czechoslovakia) to matriculate into the University of Bratislava in medicine. After the Munich Conference, he was compelled to leave prior to graduation and immigrated to Palestine in 1939. He joined Sdei Nehemia and volunteered to serve, jumping with the Slovakian group and was executed with them. '''Haviva Reich (born in the Slovakia in 1914; executed November 20, 1944) grew up originally as Marta in the Carpathian Mountains and made Aliya in 1939 when she emigrated to the Ma’anit kibbutz. She would enlist in the Palmach, the elite strike force of the Haganah. From there, she was accepted into the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force of the British Special Operations Service taking the name Martha Martinovic and was promoted to Sergeant. She parachuted into Slovakia in September 1944 with Raphael Reiss, Zvi ben Yaacov and Chaim Cher-maish, the latter being the only one to survive. Abba Berdiczew would later join this group, supplying the radio equipment. She was captured after fighting in the Czechoslovakian hills and killed after interrogation, later to be reinterred in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl along with the remains of Szenes and Reiss. Return to Title Page